Unit 8 Reflection- Muscle System

         In this unit, the main topic was the muscular system. To begin, we learned about the types of movements that the joints and muscles aid in. The categories include the gliding, angular movement, rotation, and special movements. All of these actions have their own types of movements with in the category and they all are the basic functions of movement in our daily lives. At the moment I am typing and my fingers are flexing to lift up and then they are extending in order to type on the keys. When a person wants to say "no" they rotate their head laterally and then medially to signal a "no". Next we earned the synovial joints which include the planar joint, binge joint, pivot joint, condyloid joint, saddle joint, and ball-socket joint. They all may be synovial joints but they all have different functions.
         Next is the muscular system and how it is classified. Within the system there are the connective tissue components; Fascia, thin sheets of fibrous connective tissue that hold muscle fibers together, Epimysium, which is fascia that surrounds the whole muscle, the Perimusium, which separates muscles into bundles, Endomysium, which is fascia that surrounds each muscle fiber, and lastly the tendon which is a chord of dense connective tissue composed of collagen that attaches the muscle to the bone. This is the basic amatomy of the muscle tissue and later wach of these aspects come into play with the contractions and uses of the muscle. Each of the muscles can be catagorized either by direction, size, shape, location, action, or number of origins. This helps to name the muscle and give the name meaning in its characteristics. Next are the names of the muscles and where they are in the body can be better understood if you know the bones which can be found on the unit 7 blog.
         The last and most difficult learning concept was the muscle contraction. Inside each muscle fiber which are composed of myofibers. The myofibers are sacromeres which are made of myosin and actin. When the muscle contracts the filaments slide  to shorten. The steps of shortening goes as followed...
* the nueron send an action potential pulse through the neuron and Acetylcholine is released into the synapse.
* the Ach binds to the protein receptors and Ca2+ floods sarcoplasm and attaches to the troponin which allows the myosin to contract.
That is what the unit has been about and writing it out has actually helped a lot.

I want to learn more about the muscle disorders and how certain affects on the DNA can affect even muscles such as Pompe disease. I wonder why doing weight lifting can stunt growth and muscle composition.

As a student growing in the education system and also going off to college next year, I have begun to ask more questions about related topics that do not necessarily reflect the essential vocabulary but more of a focus on real life situations and how what I learn can be incorporated into everyday activities. During 20-time I have learned how to approach setbacks and work around then to gain the best results even if they were not the original plan. As for my second semester goals, I have been spending more time in the gym since AP's are over and I have seen a shift in my sleep patterns and also my mood. I have been able to wake up earlier and I always feel happier after lifting. I am yet to go on my mountain trail run but I plan on finding some time with in the next few weeks to go on it.